You are correct that no one has accepted responsibility. The unions may of had very little to do with whta is on the horizon for YRC, but the majority falls on the managments shoulders.

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'06 379 Pete with a MXS C-15 550 with heavy haul program, 200gph FASS, high flow mufflers, fuel harness, shimmed fuel pump, Bully Dog downloader, Spinner II bypass filter, Schaeffer's synthetics in all boxes, and a 18 speed tranny. Leased to Schneider on their Choice program.

Well, now they couldnt afford it, they are trying to buy another house to replace the one they lost, another car, and no credit card is useable.

Walmart private fleet

Superior Carriers

Ryder Intergrated Logistics

I have a post / thread : from walmart to superior carriers (in favorite companies section check it out for some insight....

I think that Yellow had success buying Saia and Jevic and then spinning them back out. Roadway owned much of their own real estate and was debt free. I think that Yellow was planning on converting the deeds to long term leases and then spinning Roadway back out. Well, you couldn't give truck terminals away right now, let alone ones that are 40+ years old.

On the Roadway end, I think the deal happened for a few reasons. Galen R passed away and his kids wanted out. Other long term Roadway shareholders, who had been burned by the RPS debacle, wanted to cash in. Roadway was actually on firm financial footing before the deal and was beginning to be very progressive in getting the union members involved in the company's success.

This one was a bad business deal, and definitely not the union's fault. Anyone who says it was the union's fault is just not aware of the situation. The YRC management has never put this on the union. I don't want to throw dirt on the grave because they are not dead yet, but the loss of those good paying jobs is just sooo sad (not just the drivers and dockworkers, but mechanics, management, sales and back office jobs, too).

When Yellow bought Saia and Jevic they just about ruined two fine companies then spun them off. Saia had operated in the 80's and Jevic has always been profitable. Yellow sucked the life and money out of them and tossed them. Now Saia is working hard to become profitable and Jevic is out of business. This is probably rumor but its been said that when Yellow bought Jevic they didnt have the owner have any kind of non compete. Thus we have New Century and Jevic lost all their good people to New Century.

Unions did a good job for their workers and organized crime but their corruption and constant need to get more flesh out of a company when conditions did not warrant it speaks volumes on what they have become. No better then the hierarchy of Swift,Werner, or Covenant. If you look at the attitude of the UAW in the recent bailout it is clear that Companies will have to fold rather then deal with the burden to the books that unions have become.

The socialist dinosaur that is the "union" has no place in a free society. And if you think that improving the lives of a few while costing others more to support those lifestyles is the answer then I guess you should go work for a trucking outfit run by the feds or the state because they will be the only ones left. The free market will get rid of the rest.

Unions will only survive long term where the pensions and sweetheart deals can be supported by higher taxes and no competition. And as more states go broke under the fiscal weight of their unions even those will disappear.

Quote:

This one was a bad business deal, and definitely not the union's fault. Anyone who says it was the union's fault is just not aware of the situation Well, you couldn't give truck terminals away right now, let alone ones that are 40+ years old.

Unions have no culpability?

You don't think that the high cost of operating under a union shop has anything to do with why and what business decisions are made? or why their terminals are so old and warn out?

I did not see non-union automakers coming to Washington looking for a bailout because the bloated pay from the CEO on down to the janitor was putting them out of business.

Entitlement pay just does not work. You make a buck you pay a buck, not a buck fifty because the contract says you have to. Why can't the socialists and the greedy CEO's figure this out?

Having been involved with union carriers for most of my life, I have to agree with most of what BIGBLUE says.
If you take a long look at the non-union companies most of them are operating at a profit. Maybe not as in past years due to the economy. And they take pretty good care of their employees. But the employees are required to work for a paycheck. When I took my first job with a non-union company it was a culture shock in regard to work ethics. And, NO, I am not saying nor am I suggesting that union workers don't work, most of them do and they carry the ones who don't.
My husband is a retired teamster and that's a whole other story. I also was for a short period of time.
One time a driver friend of my husbands stopped to pick him up for a union meeting to see if the company they were working for was going to strike. They were down to a dozen union employees at the time. I asked the guy why they would strike as they might shut the terminal down and all would be out of jobs. I've never forgotten this, his reply was, they owe us. My answer was the only thing they "owe" you is a days pay for an honest days work. When's the last time you did that? He didn't speak to me for years. Oh well...
Hopefully Yellow/Roadway can pull some rabbits out of the hats and survive. Too many people would suffer for the greed of a few.

[quote=bigblue19;743468]

Unions have no culpability?

You don't think that the high cost of operating under a union shop has anything to do with why and what business decisions are made? or why their terminals are so old and warn out?quote]

In the Yellow/Roadway failure? No. Both were unionized and posting profits at the time of the merger. It was the merger itself that made no sense and the analysts told the YRC CEO as much on the conference call when the merger was announced (ironically, the one who questioned it the most was the Bear Stearns analyst). Did it smell right to you when it was announced?

Listen, I don't have a dog in the union/ non-union fight. Unions have the good and the bad, just like churches (Bernard Law), charities (William Aramony) and any other human endeavor. I really can't stand the people who ignore union corruption and who leach off of the work of others. However, I think you need to wipe the spit off of your mouth a little bit, too. I understand your political motivation to heave all of the world's problems on unions, but you are overreaching on this one.

Do unions have ANY culpability in the YRC mess? Sure. So does the sales rep that went home early instead of chasing down a lead, the customer service rep who said "I'll look into it," the terminal manager who didn't really hold his people accountable, the dispatcher who blew the PU off because it would make his 'numbers look bad.' What I am saying is that the merger was NEVER going to work, union, non-union, slave or free.

My post was simply saying that I thought they would buy Roadway, convert the assets, spin them out and watch them sink or swim (much like SAIA and Jevic, which worked well for Yellow (not so much for SAIA and Jevic, good point)). I don't know why the top brass at RDWY would agree to that, but they did. The problem for YRC was when they decided that they couldn't or wouldn't spin RDWY back out, now both dinosaurs are in the tar pit.

3000+ trucking companies went out of business this past year and I would bet that less than 1% were union, but correct me if I am wrong. That would suggest that companies go out of business for reasons other than being union. YRC, if they don't make it, will be one of them that went out for reasons other than being union. You can be happy about that because it will damage the Teamsters, but those good jobs will not be replaced by other good jobs, those jobs will be replaced by the bottom feeders.

And I still think YRC should NOT be on the Bad carrier list, the original poster was more sheltered than a 3 year old.

[quote=_ton bundle;744420]I'm like you I don't have a dog in the fight but I don't think that YRC should be on the bad list, rather the Endangered List...

I also want to take the time to thank you for a well thought and well worded post. Thank you for your time and thoughts.